Providing information, education, and training to build knowledge, develop skills, and change attitudes that will lead to increased independence, productivity, self determination, integration and inclusion (IPSII) for people with developmental disabilities and their families.

SOMERSET, KENTUCKY--Last Friday,
Kentucky's Cabinet for Health and Family Services sent a letter to the U.S.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, telling the federal agency that the
state deserves to continue receiving money to operate Communities at Oakwood,
an institution that houses 250 people with developmental disabilities.

That same day, the state's inspector general issued Oakwood its 24th
Type A citation -- the kind given when conditions put residents at risk of
serious injury or death -- since January 2005.

According to the Herald-Leader, this latest citation was given because a
resident with a history of eating non-food objects swallowed a small pencil
sharpener at one of the facility's cottages in June. The woman had a behavior
plan designed to keep her from eating such things, but the staff failed to
follow it, the citation noted. Weeks after the incident, employees told
inspectors that they still had not been trained on how to keep the woman from
eating inedible objects.

It was the second Type A citation the facility had received that week.
On Wednesday, Cabinet officials announced that the facility had been cited over
a July 4 struggle between two staff members and a male resident that caused an
injury requiring the surgical removal of the man's testicle.

Last fall, CMS threatened to withdraw $43 million in Medicaid funds from
Oakwood -- about two-thirds of its budget -- because of ongoing problems with
abuse and neglect. But the federal agency has continued to fund the institution
while the state appeals that decision.

The state then decided to contract with a private company, Liberty
Healthcare, to manage the day-to-day operations at Oakwood. But the problems
have continued and Liberty has racked up fines totaling $50,000 in recent
months.

Last month, CMS gave the state 30 days to prove that Oakwood's residents
would be safe.

According to the Courier-Journal, Cabinet Secretary Mark D. Birdwhistell
told the federal agency in Friday's 26-page letter, that it has signed a
contract with the non-profit Bluegrass Regional Mental Health-Mental
Retardation Board to replace Liberty. This, Birdwhistell said, would be a major
improvement, because Bluegrass has a proven track record with the state, and it
will have more flexibility in disciplining employees.

Fifteen former Oakwood employees have been arrested in the past two
years and charged with abusing and neglecting residents. Cabinet officials have
said that problem employees continued to work with residents because the state
employees' merit system has made it difficult to reprimand or terminate them.
When Bluegrass takes over, all Oakwood workers will be Bluegrass employees.

Birdwhistell added that so far this month 43 residents have moved into
homes in the community and one has moved to a nursing facility. Another 62 are
planning to move out in the near future.

The GCDD is funded under the provisions of P.L. 106-402. The federal law also provides funding to the Minnesota Disability Law Center,the state Protection and Advocacy System, and to the Institute on Community Integration, the state University Center for Excellence. The Minnesota network of programs works to increase the IPSII of people with developmental disabilities and families into community life.